Tiger in 2011: Back to Winning Ways

A guest blog by Mike "Zandos" Anderson:


Many people overlook this but the downward spiral started in 2009. Tiger had never lost a major when leading after three rounds. Long story short, Woods had a two shot lead on Y.E. Yang at Hazeltine. Major number fifteen was a given. Right?

Wrong. Somehow he had more bogeys in the final 18 holes than he had in the first three rounds combined. As a result, Tiger lost by two strokes.

No one (including Tiger) expected him to win anything in 2010. Too much personal drama, too few tournaments, too little time spent practicing, and due to injury he was forced to make another change to his swing.

Fast forward to the eve of his 2011 debut and the song remains the same. Are Tiger’s swing changes solidified? Is his knee repaired? Can he reclaim his magic putting touch? Can he reassert his psychological dominance over his peers? Most importantly, can he move a step closer to Nicklaus with a major this year? The answers to all of these questions are the same: Yes. And the reason for that is because the best golfer on the planet and potentially the most dominate athlete is single again.

In the past he dominated golf for obvious reasons: Perfect upbringing, superhuman talent, his father trained him at a young age, killer instinct, and the list goes on. He also dominated because he focused solely on himself. Sure, he got married, but he still did whatever he wanted during his marriage just like he did before it. The results during his marriage when it wasn’t under the microscope were constant. Tiger Woods won. And he won a lot.

A few months later he crashed his “Pimp My Ride” Escalade and all hell broke loose. He gets caught with more women than putts he attempts in a round. This made Tiger focus on his wife. He had to answer to the media and go to sex rehab to try and save his marriage. This meant no more late night practice sessions, no more all nighters in the club, and no more hookers. And no more wins.

Forget the swing changes and the putting concerns on a bum knee. Tiger being single again outshines all of that. He’s got all the time in the world to focus on his two favorite things - golf and Tiger. That's the definition of balance. All is right again in his universe

I’m predicting more wins for Tiger Woods in 2011 than ever before.

What the sports world will see this year is the most dominant golfer of his generation (and maybe ever) come full circle. Woods was at the top, crashed hard (no pun intended), but will now rise from the mess that 2010 was and make 2011 a career year.